Holes in body that are below Ranchero SS Bed Trim,What purpose do they serve?

[KYBlueOval]

As the body work and fabrication on my Ranchero gets closer to being finished, I look at the factory holes that are directly beneath the 54 inch long Stainless Steel Trim that mounts on top of the rear quarter panels, and wonder what purpose do the holes serve?
The only thing I see that they do is allow water to get into the quarter panel, which then goes to either the rocker panel or the lower rear quarter panel, to feed the "Tin Worms".
My thought is to fill all of the holes,that are not mounting holes for the SS trim,and install a drain on each side with a tube that takes the water, that gets under the trim, down through the quarter panel and out.
There is Zero rust in, or on this body now and I don't want to overlook any potential water/rust issues.
So, why are the holes there and what are your thoughts on what I propose to do? Tell me what you think........pro or con.
John

[Hoosier Hurricane]

John, I feel that those holes are somehow connected to the sliding window hardware when those quarter panels were used on 2 door wagons.  The chrome trim is obviously used merely to cover the channel and holes as used in the wagons.  Just like the stainless trim and formed steel panel are used to cover the top of the wagon tailgate.   John

[KYBlueOval]

Very good point sir. i had not given that a thought. It makes perfect sense. What's your opinion of closing them all up and installing drains?

[djfordmanjack]

John, can you get us some pics of your areas in question. my Del Rio is fully accessible with glass and channels removed. would be most interesting to compare to Ranchero sheetmetal.

[Tom S]

KY John, since there is really no low point there for water to run to would installing drains do much good? Would it be be better to just make sure the the area under the trim is very well sealed with paint or something?  For a few seconds I thought of maybe spray on bed liner but decided that's a bad idea considering that it would need to go directly under the edge of the trim to really keep water out.
Big long thin rubber gasket could be a pain to perfectly align & may not look quite right.

[KYBlueOval]

I'll take some photos  of the holes and post them. The body is 30 miles away........might get there today.
As to the effectiveness of the drains.........admittedly this is a crap shoot, but I believe it "should" work. My Ranchero is 2 1/2" lower in the front with a Drop em Stop em brake/spindle set up. Along with that , I'll run a larger tire in the rear, which further accentuates the dropped front. My thought was to install a drain in the area where the Vertical SS Bed Trim ( on either side of the rear window ) joins the 54" Horizontal piece of SS Bed Trim. My guess, and it is just that an, educated guess, is that whatever water gets beneath the SS trim, will run to that  general area, given the stance of the car. If I leave the "holes" then whatever water gets beneath the SS trim is guaranteed to go into the quarter panel and do its magic over time.
I'll get photos as soon as I can.
Thanks for the replies.
John

[Ford Blue blood]

John don't think they are anything other then "production things".  The inner quarter for the Ranchero was different then the Wagons.  The wagon inners formed the channel for the rear glass weather striping and the "fuzzy channel for the sliding window.  I do not recall any of those holes in the wagon.  The channel was screwed down with tiny flat head screws.  The inner trim (long, one piece pain to install) then sealed the rubber for the fixed rear glass and held the channel in place.

I did make little plugs to fill them in, spot welded them and then used seam sealer to "water tight" them.  I did not body work them, still ugly but will be covered with the stainless.

[KYBlueOval]

Thanks Bill, that is what I'm thinking of doing. Doesn't need to be pretty, just functional. I'll get some photos posted soon and see what other replies I get.

[KYBlueOval]

Here are the photos of the holes in the top of the quarter panels that I plan on filling. In the last two photos I've placed a washer in the area where I'm planning on installing a drain tube.
Now that you can see the photos........what do you think? Suggestions , comments.......tell me your thoughts. As I've said before, I only want to do this once, and do it right.

[Ford Blue blood]

Yup...that's the holes.  Mine had the oval shaped running all the way back to the start of the curved part.  Made a patch for all of them, a spot on each end and seam sealer to finish the job. 

Have you tried on the stainless yet?  All the screw holes line up perfect on mine.  I was worried because my bed stuff came from three different parts of the country so I test fitted all of it.

[djfordmanjack]

that sure is the outer Ranch wagon quarter panels !! there is even the recess, for where the front glass slides back. all that water getting in there just drains inside the rockers, fender well lips and rear quarters. Now go figure what that does with tar insulation over bare metal parts and partly clogged drain holes.
This pretty sums up the explanation for the typical 1957 Ford rocker panel rust, rear fender lips and especially lower rear quarters. they rusted out from inside. That said, we still do love our 57 Fords and Johns idea of filling all those factory holes and adding 2 real drains under car and outside of lower car panels is a must. if I was to do that I would probably want to use as large diam hose as possible, so it can't get clogged by pine needles, dust or leaves debris or wasps or the like. you could also use stainless tubing and weld it solid.

I will go take pics of those areas on the Del Rio, just for comparison.

[KYBlueOval]

Yup...that's the holes.  Mine had the oval shaped running all the way back to the start of the curved part.  Made a patch for all of them, a spot on each end and seam sealer to finish the job. 

Have you tried on the stainless yet?  All the screw holes line up perfect on mine.  I was worried because my bed stuff came from three different parts of the country so I test fitted all of it.

Bill, I have not test fitted ALL of it, but most of it. I'll test all of the pieces ASAP.

[djfordmanjack]

for comparison 2dr DelRio Ranch wagon quarters. it is obviously the same/similar pressing as on the Ranchero. B and C post areas are different of course. the rear larger rectangular hole is covered with a piece of spot welded metal. other than that, they appear to be identical.

[KYBlueOval]

Yes they do.  Since the holes don't seem to serve any purpose, the holes will be filled and some drains will be installed. Photos to follow once its completed.